Happy Holidays, We're Outta Here

It's that time of year once more, when the Boise Weekly staff preps for our holiday break. Leading up to this week, we've anxiously swiveled in our office chairs, sipped far too much coffee and eyed the wall calendar while collectively hammering our keyboards to put the year's final issues to bed.

It all comes down to Friday, Dec. 21. That afternoon, we'll shut down BWHQ until the new year. That is, unless the Maya were right about the apocalypse reportedly scheduled to take place that day, in which case we'll be live-tweeting the end of the Earth. Barring that, we'll swing open our doors once more Wednesday, Jan. 2.

But don't think the BW crew plans to slouch on giving you all the deets on local events and timely news--far from it. Through the break, our bright red newsstands will be filled with fresh issues every Wednesday, as always. And over at boiseweekly.com, we'll keep the digital newsstand stocked, too.

With the holidays in mind, check out the News Feature on reindeer by BW contributor Zach Hagadone. In northern Idaho, woodland caribou are commonly known as North American reindeer. The caribou related to Santa's working-class reindeer living at the North Pole roam in a strip of land, which happens to include prime snowmobiling areas. Read about the push and pull between rec and wildlife.

Also be sure to flip to our arts section, where BW highlights two Boise residents' extravagant displays of holiday lights. Just how much electricity do 40,000 bulbs actually draw? Find out.

You may recognize the name you see on the main feature, "Shop 'Til We Drop." We somehow managed to blackmail former Editor Rachael Daigle into writing about something near and dear to all of our hearts this season: finances.

On the horizon, keep an eye out for the Wednesday, Dec. 26, issue, in which we look back at this year's biggest stories with a special year-end edition. This isn't some hokey rehash to fill the pages, either. From the best in arts, entertainment and news, we invite readers to pause and consider what has changed in the past year, across the state, country and right here in the City of Trees.